I was commisioned to do a concept image for Fox Studio’s upcoming feature “Chronicle“. I was givin two week during Christmas to concept, scout, plan and execute…challenge accepted!

In short the movie is about teens who gain abilities and how they deal with their new found powers. One of these abilities is the power of telekinesis. For this concept I wanted to create a scene where a person uses their powers to save another from an oncoming vehicle. I wanted to put a spin on this idea, so I came up with the idea of doing a tilt-shift. This effect makes the scene seem like a setup with miniatures. We had actors down on the street playing their parts as I captured it from a high vantage point. The only addition done in post was the levitating truck. I think the end results is something that plays with the eye and the mind.

One of the main thing we had to do to pull this off is to find a location where I had a good vantage point from above. We ended up in downtown riverside a top a parking structure.

The image below was taken during the scouting trip. As you can see the lighting was not ideal at this time.

We waited several days when reports said we were to get some cloud covering….that never came. As the deadline approached, I made the decision to in the evening at sunset. This would ensure a diffused light over the street that would add to the tilt shift effect.

Below is an iphone shot taken the evening of the shoot:

I communicated above to an assistant playing a bystander. He would que the actors to go when traffic permited. The result was this final image:

For more information about this film and to see other commisioned artwork please check out the Chronicle Blog.